Cops jump into action, rescue man from railway tracks

Michael Oates/Staten Island AdvancePolice Officer Donna Caminiti, left, and her partner Kathleen Ratz were the first on scene to help a man who fell onto the Staten Island Railway tracks.

Talk about dicey moments.

For a few seconds that probably seemed like an eternity, Officer Donna Caminiti of the 120th Precinct -- all five-foot-three, 95-lbs. of her -- was all that stood between a homeless man who had fallen onto the tracks at the Stapleton Train Station, and a Staten Island Railway train barreling southbound.

With the train heading around a bend, it appeared there was no way the conductor would see the man lying on the tracks.

Officer Caminiti only hoped the conductor could see her waiving frantically, or hear her screaming, "Stop the train! Stop the train! "

Luckily, he did. When the train came to a screeching halt, it was about four feet from where Officer Caminiti stood.

By then, however, she had already turned her back to the tons of steel and wheels, and was heading toward 53-year-old Charles Austin, who lay unconscious and was bleeding from his right ear.

With an assist from fellow 120th Precinct officers Terrance Avent and Billy Schau, and partner Kathleen Ratz, Officer Caminiti helped pull Austin to safety. Austin was treated at Richmond University Medical Center for head wounds, and was listed in stable condition after the 12:30 p.m. today.

Just another day on the job, right?

"I didn't think I was afraid of the train hitting me because I was worried about the train hitting him," Officer Caminiti later explained in an interview at the St. George precinct house.

"You just sort of have tunnel vision when you're trying to do your job."

Austin, who police said appeared to be intoxicated, was dazed when the officers brought him to his feet. "He didn't even know where he was," Caminiti said, "He thought he was dreaming."

This afternoon's incident was the second time this year the diminutive 32-year-old, who has been an NYPD officer for 3 years, made headlines for an unusual rescue. In February, Officer Caminiti performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation on a cat overwhelmed by smoke in a New Brighton fire.

After saving Baby, the black-and-white feline that was unconscious and on the brink of death, Officer Caminiti reacted with a similar modesty.